Forget about character interactions! This is a combat tournament!
Welcome to Enmity Colosseum!
The most anticipated international festival is just a week away and the students of all their respective Huntsman Academies were brimming with excitement and restlessness. Every two years, one of the Kingdoms of Remnant hosts the Vytal Festival in celebration of the various culture of the world with dances, parades, and the main attraction of the festival; a combat tournament.
And none was more excited than Weiss Schnee, who had been looking forward to participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament.
"How can you not be excited?!" Weiss exclaimed, watching Amity Colosseum hover distance away from Beacon Academy.
"Uh, because you've been hyping this for a very long time now?"
Team RWBY and JNPR all stood on the campus terrace admiring the floating technological marvel that is the Amity Colosseum. A culmination of the four kingdoms' efforts, working together to create one of the greatest engineering feats that remains unrivaled till this day.
"Cool, huh?" Yang brushes her blond hair back and whistle. "I've been dying to see how far we'll make it in the tournament. I hope you guys are ready for this, especially you Ice Queen."
"Hey!"
Nora pumped her fist in the air, "We've been training hard! I'll break our competitors' legs! Not you guys though." She grinned viciously, "Maybe a slight fracture."
Yang fistbumps the hyperactive girl, accepting her challenge. "You're on."
"That is if we'll be pitted against each other during our opponent selections." Ren points out.
All participants will be randomly selected to fight against one another, so it isn't guaranteed that they'll be fighting Team JNPR in Teams, Doubles, or Singles.
"Eh. If we do, we're gonna win."
"Ha! In your dreams!"
"I wonder what weapons we'll get to see," Ruby said to herself, eyes sparklingly at the prospect of witnessing the participants and their weapons being deployed at their fullest capacity.
"You mean what weapons you'll get to see." Said Yang, "The Vytal Festival is a weapons convention than a festival to you."
"While I'm inclined to agree with Yang, your sister does have a good point." Blake steps in, "It's good practice to study your opponents if we were to fight them in the tournament."
"Uhh, yeah! That's exactly what I meant."
"…"
"Excited, Jaune?"
"More like, nervous." The blond knight glanced at his partner, Pyrrha. "I mean… We'll be fighting on live television! What if I screw up? Or embarrassed us all?"
Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder, "We'll be fine."
"Yeah!"
"Enjoying the view?" Everybody turned around by the sound of Beacon Academy's headmaster, Professor Ozpin strolling towards the terrace. By his side is his deputy, Professor Glynda Goodwitch. "I'm certain all of you are eager to show what you've learned this year."
"Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch." They greeted their teachers.
"Children." Glynda nods back, "I hope you've completed all of your assignments this week?"
There was a mixture of affirmative and negative responses to the deputy's question, making her narrow her eyes.
Yang gulps, "I, uh… I'm almost done with mines. Just the last two problems."
"I see." Glynda didn't look convinced, but it wasn't her call to reprimand the blond bombshell since she didn't assign them any of their homework for the week. "Do see it completed by the end of the weekends, Miss Xiao Long."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hm, yes." Ozpin lowers his steaming mug of hot chocolate, "In any case, I wish all of you the best of luck on the Vytal Festival."
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin."
"We'll do our best!"
Just then, a figure in a lilac-colored suit and shades seemingly appears not far to the side of the group, catching them by surprise.
"Ah! I found you guys!" The man has light brown hair and a wide prankish grin. "Most of the participants are here together! Wonderful! That makes my job a lot easier!"
Ozpin and Glynda protectively stepped in front of their students.
"I wasn't aware we had visitors at this hour," Ozpin said nonchalantly, successfully masking his wariness.
"We currently do not allow visitors on campus at this hour due to preparation for the Vytal Festival." Glynda kept a level gaze at the odd man, her weapon, a riding crop known as The Disciplinarian was held firmly in her hand. "May I ask who and how you arrive on Beacon's campus?"
"Is that formal or informal wear?" Nora asks in regards to the mysterious man's lilac-colored suit.
"Hard to say. It's formal for what I'm doing… Oh, let me introduce myself." The purple-suited man straightened up and cleared his throat. "Hi there! I'm the announcer for a fun new family game! It's called…" He put a hand over his face, "Eh, I can't do it. Song and game are copyrighted, dammit."
An awkward silence befell the terrace.
"Uh… Hi, I'm Ruby?" The crimson reaper greeted back meekly in an attempt to break the awkwardness.
"Nice to meet you." The man lowered his hand and resumed his prankish grin. "I'm actually the Emcee, not the announcer. Anyway, ignore that stupid skit I did just now. Let's get the show started!" He points at the team of huntsmen and huntresses in training. "Team RWBY! Team JNPR! You guys are up! Your professors are also tagging along, so let's get rolling!"
/-/
Before any of them could react, the man snapped his fingers teleporting all of them to what appeared to be a sparse colosseum with smooth marble flooring. At the edge of the colosseum are small water canals flowing with sparkling clear water from wall fountains heads of various beasts.
Team RWBY, JNPR, and their teachers were instantly on guard; remaining vigilant as they scan their environment.
"Where are we?" Jaune tentatively asked. His teammates instinctively crowded around each other and their friends.
Aside from Ozpin and Glynda, the huntsman and huntresses in training are still in their school uniforms and don't have any weapons on them. Combined with their mysterious kidnapper ability to teleport them to this place, they're not in a good spot.
"Welcome!" The Emcee spread his hands out wide, "To Enmity Colosseum! Not Amity Colosseum, mind you." He lowered his arms and rub his chin, "Huh. You know, I should probably save the beginning introduction when everyone else gets here. Otherwise, I'll be doing my welcoming several times."
"Where. Are. We?" Glynda hissed, readying her weapon and semblance.
The Emcee didn't seem fazed by the deputy's fierce look. "As stated earlier, we're in Enmity Colosseum. I'll explain more about this place when the other constants arrive."
Glynda swipes her riding crop, pointing it at the Emcee, and uses her semblance to apprehend their erratic kidnapper.
Only it didn't work.
"Your power, what was it again? Ah, semblance. That one." He wagged his finger, "That won't work on me, the staffs, or any of the Gamemasters. Just a heads up."
That didn't deter the deputy who thought of ripping portions of the marbles off the ground and launch it at the Emcee should it comes down to it. Their situation didn't bode well, and she rather not make things worse. So, she glances at Ozpin in hopes of making sense of their situation.
Ozpin nodded, calmly holding onto his walking stick and mug. "Emcee means master of ceremonies. Someone typically who presents speaks, and entertains; generally, to keep an event moving. Is that correct?"
"That's right." He gave the professor a thumbs up, "Now, I would be explaining all this but for some reason, the Gamemasters are taking a very long time bringing the rest of the participants here. Sorry folks, bear with it for a moment. I don't want to repeat myself multiple times."
"So, he's not a bad guy?" Nora quizzically asks her teammates who simply shrugged, looking lost.
The Emcee's expression lit up as he turned his head slightly to the right. "Ah, here comes Gamemaster Kenner and his charge."
Not soon after, a bright light flared up at the spot the Emcee was looking at, fading quickly as it has illuminated. From that spot, two individuals appeared. One is a young boy and the other is a wiry pale humanoid with pointy ears dressed in a pristine white suit.
Ozpin doesn't recognize any of the newcomers. He does, however, recognize the weapon that the young boy wields. A weapon that looks exactly like the one he currently has on hand, The Long Memory.
The boy in question wears an olive coat with shoulder pads and a belt both of dark red. Underneath, he wears a white collared shirt and bandages wrapped around the neck. His gloves are a slightly open U-shape with black X-pattern wrist straps. He also wears black trousers and red boots colored orange at the toe.
'It can't be… Can it?' Ozpin frowns to himself. There's no way this boy is his incarnation, not while he's still alive.
It could just be a coincidence. Some people can replicate weapons and fighting styles after all. What is to say this boy is one of them? However, there's too much of a coincidence and he reckons these mysterious people brought the young boy here for a good reason.
Glynda also noticed it but chooses to remain silent.
The Emcee slid over to the Gamemaster and loudly greeted his colleague, "Kenner! My favorite aloof elf co-worker! You made it! What took you so long?" He frowns upon doing a headcount of the contestants Keener bought. "I thought you had more contestants to retrieve, not just one."
"I had difficulties retrieving the participants." The elf emotionlessly turns to the young boy, "Especially that one."
The boy frowns at that, quietly observing his kidnappers and environment until he spots someone familiar in a separate group nearby. His face brightens upon seeing familiar faces.
"Ruby, everyone! You guys were caught too?" He asks, surprising the young girl.
"Uh… Have we met before?" Ruby never recall anyone like the boy in front of her. He looks younger than her, shorter too. Maybe a student back at Signal?
The boy was taken aback and takes a closer look at them, suddenly becoming puzzled.
"Somethings not right." He frowns as he studies Team RWBY and JNPR, then stared at Ozpin, blinking rapidly. "Ozpin?"
The headmaster stares back and nods, "That I am. I don't believe we've been acquainted. May I know your name, young man?"
"… Oscar Pine." He turns to the Emcee and the 'elf' named Kenner. "What's going on? Where am I?"
Keener regards him with a stoic glance, "Your colleagues before you are probably from a different time, maybe even a different reality. Cease your questions and struggles. The Emcee shall explain everything soon."
"That's right! Everything will be explained by yours truly! It's about time the other Gamemasters got back with the first assemblage!" The Emcee clap his hand as a bright flash of light lit up another unoccupied space. "What took you so long?!"
"These guys were a lot harder to locate, okay?" A hooded Gamemaster with glowing blue eyes retorted, glaring at his charge that's composed of Team CFVY and CRDL. "Rounding up eight superpower brats that fight back or run after a few words is tedious than you think."
Team CFVY is a second-year team with Coco Adel as the team leader along with her teammates Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi.
Team CDRL is a first-year team like Team RWBY and JNPR. The team is led by Cardin Winchester with his teammates: Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark.
Both teams were dazed from the sudden teleportation, swaying slightly on their feet while clutching their heads. All eight students were in their combat attire and have their respective weapons in hand, though it's unlikely they'll be able to make use of them against their kidnapper.
A concerned look flash across Glynda's face. "Team CFVY and Team CRDL?"
Coco was the first to recover, shaking off the fainting spells, and hastily fixing her shades. "Whoa, Professor Goodwitch?"
"Professor!" Dove calls out, "What's going on?"
"I'm afraid we all are on the same boat." Ozpin steps forth and fixed the Gamemasters an unreadable look. "May I ask why you have gathered my staff and students here?"
The Gamemasters didn't respond to Ozpin's inquiry and instead teleported to a floating metal platform alongside the Emcee. None huntsmen and huntresses made any moves despite there being only three people. It was obvious that the Emcee and the two Gamemasters have some tricks up their sleeves to handle all of them even with the help of Ozpin and Glynda going all out.
"Get on with it," Kenner said with a sigh.
"Hang on, Testing my mic." The Emcee produced a microphone out of thin air, ""Hang on. Testing my mic." The Emcee produced a microphone out of thin air, "Testing, testing. Yes, it works." He clears his throat and dramatically threw his left hand to the side and loudly shouts into the mic. "People of Remnant!"
The Emcee's voice permeated the entire colosseum, and every participant found themselves not flinching but giving the Emcee their undivided attention.
"Welcome to Enmity Colosseum! I'm your host and Master of Ceremonies for today's event, the Emcee! From here on out and for a while, you'll be participating in a game of conflict to entertain our interdimensional audience and viewers!"
The purple-suited man then gestures at the army of white-suited people of varying species that suddenly appear and stand by his side.
"And these are the Gamemasters for this season! Give them a round of applaud for all their hard work folks!"
The empty stands suddenly had people in them – Every colosseum aisle was filled with cheering and applauding audiences to the fullest capacity in a split second. The sudden thunderous claps, roars, and cheers startled every participant within the arena as they numbly stared at the sudden appearance of their audiences.
"When did they get there?!" Jaune raised his voice enough to be at the minimum audible to his teammates. "They weren't there before, right?!"
Pyrrha shook her head, "They weren't!"
The deafening applause and cheering died down, allowing the Emcee to continue.
"We have a very large group of participants today, folks! Many of them intertwine with one another in some shape or form! Grudges, vengeance, love, whatever! It matters and matters not in the Enmity Colosseum! What will our participants from Remnant be partaking in, you say? Why everything of course! Tournaments, Capture the Flag, Escort, Free-for-All, and so on! Are you ready?!"
The crowds cheered wildly with 'yeah' and 'hell, yes' and other forms of affirmation and languages.
"Good! Let's drop some rules for our participants, alright? First thing first! If you die, you'll respawn! It won't bode us well if our participants stay dead! And no, you won't be revived as an undead unless you were already one or something similar." The Emcee laughs, "And! With the added benefit of having an aura protecting you. You have two ways to designate your way of defeat!"
A large transparent screen appeared overhead, displaying simple but informative illustration:
[- - - - - Individual Defeat Conditions - - - - -]
The massive transparent screen displaying a pictogram of a person shrouded in its aura. An aura gauge hovers over the pictograph person, showcasing their aura reserves.
"If your aura is fully depleted, then you'll be immediately removed from the arena to the Respawn Waiting Room!"
Another pictogram figure appeared and attacked the pictogram person protected by their aura; shattering it and dissipating the user at the same time who quickly reformed in a skybox that had a large neon sign that read 'Respawn Waiting Room' along with a countdown timer.
"Or, you can fight till the end! If you die, you'll respawn in the Respawn Waiting Room!"
The screen reset back to the default pictogram.
Again, another pictogram figure appeared and attacked the pictogram person, shattering their aura. This time, however, the pictogram tried to fight back, only to be impaled and left bleeding on the ground before dematerializing and reforming in the Respawn Waiting Room, countdown timer and all.
[- - - - - - - - - -]
"It's your preference!" The Emcee waves enthusiastically, "Now then, are we ready to get this match started?!" The audience roars with anticipation while the participants from the World of Remnant were understandably unnerved or tense. "Let's start off with these amateurs!"
Ozpin and Glynda were teleported to the skyboxes, leaving their students and Oscar behind on the ground.
"What game mode shall these huntsmen and huntress-in-training will participate in?! Let's find out!"
Several large transparent screens appear around the colosseum. Displayed on the screens is a large wheel that spins through a series of 'game modes' that will determine the objective all four teams will have to prevent or achieve.
"I… I have no idea what's going on." Weiss slumps and numbly watch as the wheel begins to slow, clicking through two more selections before coming to a stop.
[Capture the Flag]
[King of the Hill]
[VIP Escort]
"VIP Escort, folks! Let's see who the VIP is, which team will be escorting, and who is attacking! Totally not biased."
The screens flicker and sort out the teams, displaying each individual's headshot portrait and names.
[- - - - - Teams - - - - -]
[VIP] Oscar Pine
[+ + +]
[Escort Team]
Team RWBY:
Ruby Rose
Weiss Schnee
Blake Belladonna
Yang Xiao Long
Team CFVY:
Coco Adel
Fox Alistair
Velvet Scarlatina
Yatsuhashi Daichi
[+ + +]
[Assassination Team]
Team CDRL:
Cardin Winchester
Russel Thrush
Dove Bronzewing
Sky Lark
Team JNPR:
Jaune Arc
Nora Valkyrie
Pyrrha Nikos
Lie Ren
[- - - - - - - - - -]
"Noooooo!" Nora wails and turns to glomps Oscar with a broken expression. "I don't wanna hurt Little Cute Ozpin!"
"I'm… Not…" Oscar gasp for air while struggling to free himself from her bear hug.
The Emcee laughs at Oscar's suffering as Nora unknowingly strangles him in her grip. "Well, it looks like someone is eager to get this round starting. Quick for the kill! Haha!"
"Nora!" Ren quickly pulls his partner off of the young boy. "I'm sorry for Nora's recklessness."
Pouting, Nora crosses her arms and turns her head away. "I'm not going to attack little Oz boy!"
"Unfortunately, you must! We have ways to deprive you of any self-control, turning you into a puppet whose sole purpose is to fight."The Emcee smiles brightly despite the thinly veiled threat towards the huntress-in-training. "I'm sure you wouldn't want that, would you?"
The hooded Gamemaster with glowing blue eyes turns towards Nora with a grin and raises a hand, creating five glowing blue threads and a wooden puppet. A clear threat.
"You can't do that!" Ruby squawks.
"It's okay!" Oscar cuts in, prompting all teams to look at him like he's gone mad. "We're not in any position to argue. Besides, it's like he said." He gazes into the Emcee's shining eyes, "Even if we do die, we'll come back to life. Right?"
"That's right! Honestly, you kids should have pay attention to my explanation earlier."
"There's no way you can bring someone back from the dead." Cardin sneers, but one glance from the Gamemasters quickly sank his confidence along with his mind. "Right?"
"Would you like a demonstration?"
"N-no."
"You kids are really dragging things out here. The crowds getting impatient! So, what will it be? Till your aura depletes, or to the death?"
All the participants glance at each other, unanimously agreeing to fight until their aura depletes.
"Damn it. Not much of a choice, huh?" Coco shrugs and shouted out their choice. "Till our aura depletes!"
"Till their aura depletes, folks!" The Emcee announces to the crowd, "Let's get everything set up!"
Team RWBY and JNPR Beacon uniforms were magically replaced with their combat attire and weapons, then followed by the team's sudden separation into their respective groups.
Meanwhile, the entire colosseum battlegrounds were transforming into a town-like setting: Brick buildings, paved roads, street lights, and many vehicles were strewn throughout the battlegrounds. It could have easily been mistaken for another average town were it not for the thick gray fogs in some parts of the area and crumbling pitfalls that appear to be bottomless.
"We tore a page out of Silent Hill's architecture designs and made an arena out of it. No monsters though, but we do have a lot of pitfalls that will instantly land you in the Respawn Waiting Room! Shall we get started, folks?"
[- - - - - Event - - - - -]
[Mode] VIP Escort
[Map] ra4_silenthill
[Individual Defeat Conditions] Till aura reserve is completely depleted
[- - - - - Teams - - - - -]
[VIP] Oscar Pine
[+ + +]
[Escort Team]
Team RWBY:
Ruby Rose
Weiss Schnee
Blake Belladonna
Yang Xiao Long
Team CFVY:
Coco Adel
Fox Alistair
Velvet Scarlatina
Yatsuhashi Daichi
[+ + +]
[Assassination Team]
Team CDRL:
Cardin Winchester
Russel Thrush
Dove Bronzewing
Sky Lark
Team JNPR:
Jaune Arc
Nora Valkyrie
Pyrrha Nikos
Lie Ren
[- - - - - - - - - -]